There's no point in bidding on ports in the final turn because you won't resolve your ships actions until the following turn (which won't happen because you're already at the end of the game).

To win a port in the final turn you have to have bid on it in the previous turn.

Well, in the example mentioned in the original post you're correct, there's no point in either player 2 or 3 playing a ship at a port in that situation.

But playing a ship in a port on the final round isn't always pointless. Suppose you're player 1, 2 or 3, and in the next-to-last round player 4 placed a bid at a port. If you don't want player 4 to collect the cargo there, you could (if able) place a higher bid at the port on your last turn to prevent him from collecting.

In doing so, you're using up some of your coins that might have otherwise gone to buying a victory card on the final turn... but if those coins wouldn't make the difference, using them to prevent a player from getting cargo on the last turn might be of help.

There's no point in bidding on ports in the final turn because you won't resolve your ships actions until the following turn (which won't happen because you're already at the end of the game).

To win a port in the final turn you have to have bid on it in the previous turn.

Well, in the example mentioned in the original post you're correct, there's no point in either player 2 or 3 playing a ship at a port in that situation.

But playing a ship in a port on the final round isn't always pointless. Suppose you're player 1, 2 or 3, and in the next-to-last round player 4 placed a bid at a port. If you don't want player 4 to collect the cargo there, you could (if able) place a higher bid at the port on your last turn to prevent him from collecting.

In doing so, you're using up some of your coins that might have otherwise gone to buying a victory card on the final turn... but if those coins wouldn't make the difference, using them to prevent a player from getting cargo on the last turn might be of help.

Oh yeah I know the drill. I was more just responding to the particular situation presented by magic&illusion.